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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan this spring has led to many supply chain disruptions around the globe, ranging from lack of raw materials to damaged facilities and missing personnel. Jeff Karrenbauer, President and Co-Founder, INSIGHT, Inc., a provider of supply chain planning solutions for the world’s foremost companies, recently spoke about the long-term supply chain effects of the Japan disaster and what industrial companies can do about them.

Of all the strategies that American manufacturers could use today to grow their businesses, industrial marketing is perhaps the most important, yet least understood strategy.
One of the reasons industrial marketing is not very well understood is that it is not taught in most universities.

Let’s first talk about how you pay for ERP, or any enterprise level software for that matter. Enterprise application software is typically not bought and sold; it is instead licensed for use. It may be licensed to be used by a company, on a particular computer, or by other criteria, such as number of users.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld a $5 million judgment to the maker of a patented deep fryer, but in a ruling that makes it harder to claim patent infringement.
The justices voted 8-1 Tuesday in favor of France-based SEB, S.A., on claims that a Hong Kong company copied features of its innovative home fryer in which the outside stays cool to the touch.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota production in Japan will recover to 90 percent of pre-disaster levels in June, faster than the world's biggest automaker had projected and highlighting its power to bounce back from the supply disruptions caused by the March earthquake and tsunami.
The disasters in northeastern Japan had damaged the plants of key parts suppliers, disrupting production at all Japanese automakers.

BOSTON (AP) — A recent rise in natural gas prices is unlikely to last, as U.S. nuclear capacity returns in coming weeks and gas demand consequently eases, a Raymond James analyst said on Tuesday.
The analyst, J. Marshall Adkins, wrote in a research note that a surge in springtime nuclear plant refueling and maintenance "may be giving the natural gas market a temporary 'sugar high.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — General Dynamics Corp. has hired more than 100 employees to help work on a defense contract it was awarded by the Navy in December.
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems ultimately hopes to hire 500 workers over the next five years to build, test and deliver the electronics systems for the Littoral Combat Ships.

HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia Corp. on Tuesday warned its second-quarter sales and margins will be much lower than expected as rivals challenge the world's largest handset maker in both smartphones and low-end devices.
The announcement sent Nokia shares down more than 17 percent to a 13-year low of euro4.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has chosen businessman John Bryson to lead the Commerce Department, bringing another private sector player into an administration that has been making a concerted effort to improve its relationship with the business community.
Bryson, 67, is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Edison International, a California-based energy company.

With the REACH registration of high-volume and hazardous chemicals now complete, many companies will now be turning their attention to the next phase of compliance, which involves the production and delivery of safety data sheets (SDSs). To comply with REACH, any company involved in importing and distributing chemicals to and within the EU will need to ensure the direct delivery of SDSs and associated documentation to customers.

AutomationDirect (Cumming, GA) is offering its GS-EDRV100 Ethernet drive module, which provides a high-performance link between a control system and any GS or DURApulse AC drive. The module mounts on a 35mm DIN rail, and connects the drive to an Ethernet hub or PC by transmitting the signals to a number of servers.

The 15 gallon Nortech vacuum is now available from Guardair Corporation (Chicopee, MA), and is powered by compressed air. The Nortech vacuum can produce 60 scfm of vacuum flow, and 213 scfm in lift. According to the company, the vacuums offer safety, durability, and easy maneuverability by hand.

Hercules Chemical Company, Inc. (Passaic, NJ) has announced the availability of its Plumbers Silicone Grease, which lubricates and prevents corrosion on valve stems, faucets, ballcock linkages, and other places where waterproof grease is needed. It provides high heat resistance of -40° to 400°F for use in a broad range of applications.

Harvard Apparatus (Holliston, MA) has released the new PHD ULTRA 4400 Syringe Pump for demanding high-pressure applications, with high accuracy and smooth flow from 3.06 pl/min to 215.8 ml/min. According to the company, the pump delivers more than 200 pounds of linear pumping force, and has an easy-to-use touchscreen, color LCD, and icon interface.

GEA Liquid Processing in Skanderborg, Denmark — a technology company of GEA Process Engineering - has delivered new process technology to Urtekram International A/S. The new technology BATCH FORMULA™ is an advanced mixing system that has contributed both to an increase of production capacity and continued maintenance of product quality.

SHANGHAI (AP) — China has detained 74 people and suspended production at hundreds of battery factories in a widening crackdown on heavy metals pollution after dozens of people were sickened by lead and cadmium poisoning.
The government in eastern China's Zhejiang province said Monday that some of the people were detained in connection with pollution that sickened 172 people, including 53 children, near a battery factory in the city of Taizhou.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's unemployment rate in April rose for the first time in six months, while the nation's industrial production rebounded weakly from a record drop following March's earthquake and tsunami.
But output was seen picking up strongly in May and June as automakers and other manufacturers get back on line.

TOKYO (AP) — Two workers at Japan's crippled nuclear plant might have exceeded a radiation exposure limit amid concerns about the risks the workers face struggling to contain the crisis.
The two control room operators are being tested further and don't have immediate health problems, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia Corp. says its second-quarter and full year earnings will be worse than earlier expected because of tough competition, especially in the smartphone market.
The world's largest mobile phone maker says its second-quarter result will be "substantially below its previously expected range of euro6.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A proposal to end workers' compensation in Illinois moved a step closer to reality when it was approved by a state Senate committee.
The legislation now goes to the Senate floor. Approval there would put abolition on the governor's desk.
The Senate Executive Committee split along party lines in the 9-6 vote.